[January] What are you reading?

[Mark CMG]

I have not. I read something by him I think...Gallows Thief? I have at least one other Bernard Cornwell book too.

I haven't read Gallows Thief yet but imagine I'll get to it eventually as I've come to very much like Cornwell, especially his action and battle sequences.

Pryor (in Britain BC) talks about ritual landscapes and sacred landscapes quite a bit throughout the book; it dovetails well with my landscape architecture background, but I'm not sure he really explains it well enough. I get it, I just feel like he could break the concept down a little more. Then again, maybe it's just homework flashbacks.

Well, I've got it on ILL order at the local library, so I'll give it a go when it arrives. If I like it well enough, I'll add it to a few search engine alerts and pick up a hardcover copy for my own shelves when I can get one at a reasonable price (it's a bit expensive as much non-fiction in a certain publication-age-range tends to be for hardcover). In any event, I'm sure I'll enjoy enough of it for a reading and this winter looks like it will present plenty of opportunities.

 

[Nellisir]

I read Drowned Cities, by Paolo Bacigalupi. Working my way through Hyperbole And A Half; it's not a really long read, but there comes a point where I just had to put it down and hope to god she's getting professional help, in a truly sincere way. It's a good collection, but it's more serious than the blog I think, and read all at once, it's a little depressing.

 

[Nellisir]

Well, I've got it on ILL order at the local library, so I'll give it a go when it arrives. If I like it well enough, I'll add it to a few search engine alerts and pick up a hardcover copy for my own shelves when I can get one at a reasonable price (it's a bit expensive as much non-fiction in a certain publication-age-range tends to be for hardcover). In any event, I'm sure I'll enjoy enough of it for a reading and this winter looks like it will present plenty of opportunities.

It's a very good book; landscape architecture jargon is just a pet peeve of mine; it doesn't take much for me to start frothing at the mouth, sometimes unjustly.

 

[Mark CMG]

It's a very good book; landscape architecture jargon is just a pet peeve of mine; it doesn't take much for me to start frothing at the mouth, sometimes unjustly.

I hear ya. Sometimes a anachronistic colloquialism will have me climbing the walls.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Finishing the 2nd book in R. Scott Bakker's "The Prince of Nothing" trilogy. Hoping that the 3rd will come from Amazon soon. Will be reading some Christmas gifts: Rob Delaney's (stand-up), Scott Adams' (of Dilbert) and Karl Pilkington's latest books.

AR

 

[Zombie_Babies]

Hollywood is done. Not bad, not great. On to Turgenev's First Love and Other Stories. Only into the intro at this time. I figure I ought to read him since Hemingway and Bukowski both counted him among the best.

 

[Nellisir]

I hear ya. Sometimes a anachronistic colloquialism will have me climbing the walls.

I think I've pinpointed what's bothering me. It's not his use of "sacred" or "ritual" landscape per se; it's that it seems to be his de facto answer. Anything big is ritual. Anything big and broken has been ritually destroyed or sacrificed. It also bothers me that he's probably right. My brother and I certainly imbued our childhood landscape with a lot of meaning, and our "active" period was really only about ten years; from 7-17 or so. How much deeper and layered does it get after a thousand, or five thousand, years?

 

[Nellisir]

I finished Hyperbole and a Half. Hats off to Allie Brosh for her honesty. Now please give us a book that doesn't make me want to send you a check for psychiatric help.

 

[Mark CMG]

I think I've pinpointed what's bothering me. It's not his use of "sacred" or "ritual" landscape per se; it's that it seems to be his de facto answer. Anything big is ritual. Anything big and broken has been ritually destroyed or sacrificed. It also bothers me that he's probably right. My brother and I certainly imbued our childhood landscape with a lot of meaning, and our "active" period was really only about ten years; from 7-17 or so. How much deeper and layered does it get after a thousand, or five thousand, years?

I'll keep that in mind once the book arrives and I get going with it. In the meantime, The Pagan Lord is now available, so I'll let that tide me over.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

I'm reading Cosmos by Carl Sagan. New copy with a new foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson.

I have an original copy and I haven't read the book in ages. Nice to dive back in.